Good Practice

I’m sometimes asked what you need to succeed in substance defence. After many years representing all sides of the table, I’ve honed it down to this short list: Trust Relationships Science – Studies – Relevant Expertise Objective Evidence A Guide Luck Timing Political Support Legal Case The list is in order of importance.   Trust … Read more

Many years ago a liberterian told me a set of useful moral lesson, dressed up as a joke, about 3 lines never to trust when you hear them: The cheque is in the post. I’ll respect you in the morning. We are from the government, and we are here to help. I’ve found, for better … Read more

As a lobbyist, you are best deployed spending half of  your time working to persuade people making and influencing the decisions on your files. This does not apply if you are telepath or not interested in persuading decision makers an opinion formers. There is a variation of this. Spending a lot of your time with … Read more

From time to time, I’ll meet someone who faces a disaster brought on by some legislative or regulatory decision that has just happened or is about to happen. Sometimes the person recognises what is going to happen and asks for help. Most of the time, they don’t. They seem blissfully unaware of what is going … Read more